A Miscommunication
by Magica Draconia
Summary: Severus and Harry get their wires crossed - or somebody crosses them for them. HP Idea Generator - People are mad at each other, In Slytherin Common Room, Near Halloween, After finding out the truth, [Genre: Hurt/Comfort]


"Why on earth are you sulking in here when you have perfectly good chambers?"

Harry Potter slid a narrow-eyed sideways glare at the person who had dared interrupt his . . . thinking. "'m not sulking," he said huffily.

"Ah. My apologies, but you appear to be doing a remarkable impression of it."

"Git. Go away and leave me alone," Harry grumbled.

Severus Snape folded his arms across his chest and slowly raised an elegant, imperious eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Would you care to repeat it?"

Harry winced. "No." He clutched harder at the cushion he was hugging to his chest and pushed away the urge to stick his lower lip out in a pout. He was _not_ sulking, blast it!

Sighing, Severus gracefully lowered himself into a black leather armchair opposite Harry, and both gazed pensively into the fire.

"So," he began eventually, "are you ready to explain what has had you in a snit for the past few days?"

Harry glanced around the common room to avoid answering. No one had been more surprised than him when one of Severus' first acts as Headmaster had been to appoint Harry as the new Head of Slytherin. The poster boy of Gryffindor in charge of the snakes? The pureblood parents had thrown a collective fit. Severus had set up a special room for Howlers to be delivered to and Incendio'd. The resulting blaze had heated the entirety of Hogwarts for a week.

Severus cleared his throat, reminding Harry he was still waiting for an answer.

"I saw the letter," Harry said abruptly.

Severus blinked at him. "I receive a lot of letters, Harry. I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific."

"The one from Malfoy," Harry said through clenched teeth. Severus still looked confused. "The 'she's so special, you'll adore her' one."

Severus' eyes went blank for a moment as he tried to recall the particular letter. "Merlin, that was two weeks ago! You're only just now sulking over it?"

"It's not just that," Harry denied. He scowled at Severus. "You've called Malfoy to your office an awful lot this week."

"Yes, because we're discussing the changes he wants to make to the Potions curriculum," Severus said slowly. "Just like I discussed Defence with you and Herbology with Longbottom and the new medi-healer course with Miss Bones. What is your point, Harry?"

Harry thrust the cushion aside, and shot to his feet, pacing around the sofa agitatedly.

The letter itself probably wouldn't have bothered him, if three scent-drenched letters hadn't then been delivered on three successive days. Severus had also suddenly developed a habit of changing or cancelling their plans at short notice.

Harry knew he wasn't the greatest catch – still short, still scrawny, perpetually messy hair, short-sighted – but he'd thought he made Severus happy anyway. The very idea that he might be looking – and finding – elsewhere was tearing Harry up inside.

"Harry!" Finally beginning to lose his temper, Severus moved to stand in front of Harry, stopping his forward momentum. "Spit it out, Potter, I haven't got all day!"

"You never seem to have all day anymore," Harry grumbled.

"Do you think I'm not spending enough time with you?" Severus asked, incredulously. "For Merlin's sake, boy, which of my Headmaster duties would you have me ignore?"

"You sure spend enough time on those horrible scented letters," Harry protested loudly.

"Oh, and you spend no time at all dealing with letters that arrive every day with a different coloured ribbon?" Severus raised an eyebrow at him, his eyes beginning to spark with rage.

Harry paused for a second. He'd thought he'd hidden those well. Either Severus really did have eyes in the back of his head, or he'd gone snooping.

"This isn't about me," Harry retorted. "If you want a change or want out completely then just say so!"

"Me?!" roared Severus. "You're the one who's been sneaking around, coming in late, somewhere else even when physically in my presence!"

"Well nobody likes to be where they aren't wanted!" shouted Harry, his eyes bright with anger and tears he refused to shed. "You might as well admit it, I know you're—"

"I admit to nothing! You, on the other hand, have been—" Severus spoke over him.

"—seeing Pansy Parkinson!" they chorused simultaneously, then stopped and blinked at each other in confusion.

"Wait, what?" Harry asked, shaking his head. "I'm not seeing Pansy, you are! Malfoy said so!"

"Even if I were attracted to women, why would I be attracted to a vaporous, scheming blonde like Miss Parkinson?" queried Severus, bemusedly. "Draco was the one who informed me of your penchant for her."

Harry scowled. "I wouldn't go near her with a ten-foot broomstick," he said.

Onyx eyes met green. "In that case," Severus said slowly, "it appears that Draco has played us both for his own gain."

Harry paced in a quick circle. "But why?" he wondered. "What does he get from this?"

"Either my full attention . . . or yours," mused Severus, one hand rising up to tap long fingers against his chin.

"Or hoping to get it for someone else," Harry offered.

"Well, we know what he's about now, so he won't succeed, whatever the cause," Severus said.

"No, he won't," Harry agreed, and stepped forward to wrap his arms around Severus' slim waist. Severus put his own arms around Harry to pull him closer. They remained in position for a while before Severus pressed a kiss to Harry's head and stepped back.

"I must return to work," he said regretfully. "Tonight?"

"Tonight," agreed Harry.

As he left, Severus paused and half turned in the doorway.

Emerald eyes met onyx with the acknowledgement that their world was right once more.


End file.
